Act in Rio defends democracy and repudiates coup attempt

Cinelândia, in the central region of Rio de Janeiro, brought together this Monday (8) trade unions, social movements and representatives of political parties for an act in defense of democracy. A year ago, buildings in Praça dos Três Poderes, in Brasília, were attacked by a group in a failed coup attempt.

The demonstration brought together different flags and acronyms, but converged on the message that it is necessary to keep the memory of last year's events alive, so that they never happen again. And he reinforced the defense that it is necessary to punish all participants and leaders of the undemocratic acts of January 8th.

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The director of the Single Federation of Oil Workers (FUP), Joacir Pedro, called for the union of Brazilian workers and said that only in a State with full rights is it possible to achieve social progress.

“This act in defense of democracy is very important. We FUP workers and workers in general must repudiate any attempted coup. That's why we're here today in defense of rights and Brazil. And it is important that there is no amnesty for those who participated in and financed the coup. They have to be punished”, said Joacir.

Lawyer for the Internationalist Front for the Homeless (FIST), André de Paula, agrees that investigations must continue to discover those who financed January 8th. And it is still necessary to defeat a project that tries to weaken social movements.

“The previous government tried to intimidate us in our occupations and last year they tried to carry out a coup against the elected president. All coup plotters should be condemned and the ringleaders too. Justice is still incomplete, because it is taking the sardines and leaving out the sharks. Being on the street is our only way out to guarantee democracy,” he said.

Cláudia Paiva, coordinator of the Union of Education Professionals of the State of Rio de Janeiro (SEPE-RJ), understands that acts of memory and investments in the pedagogical structure are fundamental to preventing new coup movements.

“We are here to defend the rights of all Brazilians. And, in this sense, our fight is for quality, secular education. We were massacred by the Bolsonaro government. Now, through struggle and education, we want to reduce the number of people who support coup attempts. A good education will ensure that something like January 8th doesn’t happen again in the future,” said Cláudia.

Psychoanalyst Graça Soares, who is not directly linked to any collective, decided to go to Cinelândia today because she understands that it is the role of all Brazilians committed to democracy to repudiate those who want to appropriate power illegitimately.

“It was a tragedy that never happened. We have to maintain a constant fight. Brazil is still at risk and January 8th last year demonstrated this. Social networks help to maintain the alienation of part of the population, which ends up leading to these acts of vandalism, like what happened when they destroyed the National Congress”.